A Missing Link has been found!

[Phantom Badger]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryP...'+found%3f

Darwinius masillae.
It's a Lemur-like creature with apposable thumbs and hind legs that say it stood on it's hind Legs.
It has been very well preserved, you can see where it's fur was in the fossil aswell as traces of it's last meal.

[Vasu]

Yeah, I read about that earlier today. I was kind of happy, but also rather bitter, because my brother told me about some quote in which somebody said that if evolutionists found a fossil, they would then have two missing links before and after the fossil. :P

[Lone_Wolf]

just like with humans there can be differences between them, one was found strong enough thus evolved further and other didnt, or maybe it explains the different 'races'.

[Hraesvelg]

A better article:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2...s_masillae.php

I suggest for those interested in the topic of biology, keep up with Pharyngula. PZ Meyers is a very intelligent scientist and doesn't put up with bullshit.

The bullshit in this case being "the missing link". Anyone that thinks there is or can be a missing link missed the entire point of evolutionary biology.

[lamchopz]

haha that's brilliant. Pretty much all scientists' blogs criticised the media's brainless hype about "the missing link".

Here's another one, from the very well respected New Scientist science magazine:
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/sh...sil-or-po.html

Don't forget to read the comments that follow. It's a mini-debate on Creationism and evolution. Good fun.

Also, it seems that the name Darwinus masillae is not even a valid binomial:
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/sh...-known-as.html

Update: apparently the problem with the nomenclature has been resolved.

[Hraesvelg]

I've never been a fan of the field of taxonomy. It's an extension of our human need to wall off everything and put them in a nice little box. It really makes one ponder the question "At what point does it become a new species?" There really isn't that great of an answer to that.

[lamchopz]

Don't forget to check my previous post as to why the name Darwinus masillae has now been accepted.

I am not a fan of all the nomenclatures, either. One species might have its name changed or debated as new evidence comes knocking on the door. However, it is very important to have a universal name to refer to a particular species in communication.

I hate it when the anatomists name everything in the body and now I have to remember a lot of them but when I want to describe something, it is so easy to do because I can point to the specific spot.